“Chuanzi, what are your plans?”
The dispirited Wang Chuan held his head.
“I don’t know either. At the time, I couldn’t think at all. My mind was blank. After finishing the household registration procedures, I came straight to Dajun.”
Wang Chuan’s family lived in a rather remote rural area under the provincial capital. His assigned job had been in town, and his family became red-eyed with greed over it.
The family affection that had already been built on money became even colder.
During his years in the army, he had mailed all his allowances back home. Sometimes, when he had no money left, he thickened his skin and ate with his comrades. He never told his family, because they wouldn’t understand at all.
Even after all that, his parents and brothers still weren’t satisfied. They directly snatched away the job he would have relied on for survival and drove him out despite his lame leg.
“If you ask me, don’t go back. The two of us brothers can stay here and build something properly.”
Lin Guanghui thought rationally for a moment.
“Dajun, you’re familiar with this area. When you have time after work, ask around if there are any recruitment opportunities. Even temporary work is fine. First, find him a factory to transition into. We need to consider the practical problem first. How can he build a career if he can’t even fill his stomach? Besides, he can learn more inside a factory. Treat it as learning a skill. If there’s a better opportunity later, he can find another path. If there really isn’t any option, he can come to my side. I’ll find a way to get him a quota.”
“Alright. I’ll go ask around later.”
What Wang Chuan urgently needed wasn’t just a job.
He needed something to keep himself busy and give his wounded heart some time to recover.
The two bystanders beside them also had their own thoughts.
Jiang Tao thought: I don’t have much influence in the provincial capital. Although I know people from those big factories, they haven’t recruited workers for several years. Without a proper excuse, I don’t have enough face to ask.
Wait.
An excuse?
Yesterday, there had been an excuse, and several quotas had been specially approved. This morning, he had even sent someone to report for work…
He hesitantly glanced at the little girl.
The little girl had been struggling the entire way over how to distribute those quotas.
When she heard this conversation, she immediately scooted closer to Lin Guanghui.
“Um, what kind of factory do you want him to go to?”
Jiang Tao instantly covered his head.
He knew it.
He had heard about last time from his leader.
Such a grand gesture—over forty quotas had all been given away.
He hadn’t even had time to explain this latest matter to his leader yet.
Look.
He definitely wouldn’t be able to keep these either.
Lin Guanghui looked at Jiang Tao, then turned to the girl and quietly said:
“Any factory is fine. He needs time to recover. It’s better for him to do something than sit around.”
The little girl turned to Jiang Tao.
“Then what kind of factory is it?”
Lin Guanghui: …
Why did he suddenly feel like these two had a secret he didn’t know about?
That wouldn’t do.
“What factory?”
Jiang Tao leaned over and briefly explained the situation.
Lin Guanghui was speechless.
They could run eight hundred li away and still meet someone, then make another huge deal?
These two were really something.
Two reckless fools.
He looked at the little girl.
“You really want to give it to him?”
The little girl blinked.
“Isn’t he your friend?”
And I don’t need it anyway.
Ah.
What should he do when his heart felt warmed again?
“I’ll thank you on his behalf.”
He knew the little girl wouldn’t accept money, so he didn’t even mention it.
Besides, bringing it up would feel too distant.
The little girl would be living in the village for a long time. There would always be opportunities to compensate her in other ways.
Lin Guanghui glanced at Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao blinked and understood.
His leader wanted to protect the little girl and didn’t want her to be exposed, so the credit would be placed on him.
That made sense.
Society was dangerous.
It was enough for him and their leader to know the little sister’s abilities.
Besides, comrades also had different levels of closeness.
No one had a relationship as strong as his with their leader.
He would carry this blame.
“Leader, Dajun, Chuanzi, you all discuss things first. I’ll go make a phone call.”
The little girl looked at him without speaking.
The three men continued discussing matters.
Meanwhile, the little girl was thinking about what her cousin had told her regarding her maternal grandparents and uncle’s family.
Her grandfather and grandmother were both kind elders who did not favor sons over daughters.
Most precious of all, her aunt-in-law was also especially good, a very straightforward and cheerful person.
In the past, she had treated the original owner very well.
After the original owner’s mother passed away, she even specially wrote a letter to comfort her and told her that if she was unhappy at home, she could come live with her uncle’s family.
Things had been passable a few years earlier, at least enough to fill their stomachs.
But later, as the children grew older, school expenses, food, clothing, and the elderly occasionally needing medicine made things increasingly difficult.
These past two years, her cousin had gone to the countryside, and the three younger children at home had also grown older. Expenses kept increasing, and that small salary simply wasn’t enough.
They could only save from their own mouths.
With Cousin Hongwei occasionally saving some of his grain rations and mailing them back, they had barely managed to hold on until now.
Her cousin had given her the address.
Should she write a letter first?
Or…
Should she go directly and visit?
The original owner hadn’t seen her grandparents in years either.
Actually, going there wasn’t impossible.
Educated youths could apply for New Year leave and return home for the holiday.
It was just that most educated youths couldn’t bear to spend money on train tickets. They preferred exchanging for some things and mailing them back to support their families.
Tang Tang didn’t have that concern.
That household probably least wanted her to return anyway, and she didn’t want to go back and make herself unhappy.
If she stayed here during New Year, she would be alone too.
Wouldn’t it be better to visit her grandparents and spend New Year with them?
The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
The current situation was still relatively stable, and she could still travel around.
In six or seven years, once the situation became tense, she could stay quietly in the village and avoid going out.
Mm.
Very good!
Tang Tang had always been spontaneous.
Since she had decided, she would prepare more after returning.
Whatever they lacked there, she would prepare plenty.
From what her cousin said, life over there was also extremely difficult.
She had helped strangers, so naturally she couldn’t ignore her own relatives.
At that moment, Jiang Tao rushed in excitedly.
“Leader, do you still remember that person we helped back then?”
Which person?
Your acting is quite convincing.
“Ah, what happened?”
Jiang Tao found a stool and sat down.
“He left us a phone number back then, but I never called it. Since we didn’t have any good options for now, I thought I’d try and called him. Guess what?”
“What happened?”
Sigh.
He still had to cooperate.
“It actually connected! He said he can help arrange one quota. The timing is just right. We can go pick up the paperwork tonight. Food and lodging are both provided by the factory.”
Tang Tang: …
He acted so realistically. Anyone who didn’t know the truth would definitely be fooled.
For example, those two fools over there.
In Dajun and Wang Chuan’s eyes, this was a miraculous turn of events.
Just now, they had been talking about the job in town being stolen.
Now, these two brothers had found him a job in the provincial capital.
Once the biggest problem was solved, the atmosphere immediately changed.
It turned into a reunion among comrades.
The little girl listened with great interest.
The next day, the four of them sent Wang Chuan to report for work.
The way the staff looked at Tang Tang and Jiang Tao was very familiar.
Here they go again.
What kind of family background allowed them to send two official workers in at once?
After arranging Wang Chuan’s affairs, Dajun returned to work.
The three-person group got into the truck.
Time to go home!
On the road, the little girl told the two men about her plans.
Neither of them was surprised.
Educated youths were allowed to apply for New Year leave.
It was just that very few were willing to spend money traveling back and forth.
However, New Year leave usually wasn’t that long, generally only half a month.
Looking at her, though, it seemed like she wanted to leave almost immediately, which definitely wouldn’t be enough time.
But that wasn’t a problem either.
The little girl had done so much for the village. This was a small matter.
They just needed to tell his father after returning.
After getting home, the little girl rested completely for a few days and sorted out what she could bring to her grandparents.
Since she had the ability, she naturally wanted to bring them good things.
With conditions these past few years, her grandparents definitely hadn’t gotten enough nutrition.
They needed good food to nourish themselves.
Large fish and big pieces of meat definitely wouldn’t work; they would be too eye-catching.
But she could change the preparation method to make them less noticeable.
Remove fish bones and turn the fish into fish balls.
Make some salted fish too.
There was still wild boar meat in her space from last time.
She made salted pork, cured pork, braised pork, all kinds of preparations.
Looking at the roe deer in her space gave her a headache.
How was she supposed to deal with this thing?
The main problem was that she couldn’t explain where it came from.
Sigh.
If only the space could automatically butcher things.
Just as she thought that, shadows flashed wildly through the space.
Then…
The roe deer was butchered.
Piece by piece, cleanly arranged inside the classification cabinet.
Good heavens.
That was terrifying.
Was this really her space?
Hahaha!
The space had upgraded and even given her the function she needed most.
The little girl went mad with joy!
Finally, she secretly went up the mountain again.
This time, she entered the deep mountains directly.
She had always followed her intuition.
She directly collected three nests of wild boars: six large ones and sixteen small ones, twenty-two in total.
Farther in, she collected six black bears, two nests of pheasants, many pheasant eggs, two nests of wild rabbits, eight roe deer, and a herd of deer—ten large ones and twenty-four small ones.
If she saw something edible, she collected it!
Monkeys?
Squirrels?
No meat to eat.
No need.
Ordinary mountain goods?
Too troublesome. No time to collect them.
She could exchange for them with villagers after returning.
Ginseng and lingzhi?
Collect directly.
No time to dig slowly.
There was water?
Then collect the water and fish together, and continue raising them in the space.
Most amazingly, after following a monkey into a cave, she accidentally discovered legendary monkey wine inside a tree hollow.
The little girl: …
Her luck was heaven-defying!
Collect, collect, collect!
What was inside that little hole?
A mouse hole?
Crawl in and see.
What?
Treasure?
Was this a joke?
Then what were these box after box of gold bars, jewelry, and extremely carefully preserved antiques?
That one.
Yes, that one.
Even though she didn’t understand antiques, she knew that one was extremely precious and had supposedly been looted by invaders already.
Then what was this?
A ghost?
The boxes were stacked like a small mountain, from the cave entrance all the way to the depths, completely full with almost no gaps.
Good things.
Collect, collect, collect!
When the little girl returned home, she was still excited.
She had to fill up the classification cabinet.
Haha.
It felt so satisfying!
After processing all the prey she had gathered this time, she started cooking again.
Cooking, cooking, cooking.
And more cooking.
Fortunately, her neighbors lived far away.
Otherwise, such strong aromas every day would be pure torture.
She exchanged with villagers for various Northeastern mountain goods, dried goods, dried vegetables, sticky bean buns, and large pancakes.
Her space grew richer and richer.
The little girl faintly felt as if she could sense the space’s happiness.
Once everything was prepared, in early November, Educated Youth Tang carried her small basket and boarded the train to Fengcheng.
The train ride to Fengcheng would take five days and four nights.
Tang Tang wasn’t sure whether she would ride straight to the destination.
She had always wanted to travel around.
This was an opportunity.
She didn’t need too many days.
For the cities along the railway line, ten days to half a month would be enough.
At the next stop, she got off the train and began running all over the city.
She bought all kinds of strange and unusual things.
When she encountered an elderly person crying anxiously because they couldn’t sell their grain, she collected several portions of grain too.